Meet the Chiropractor

Hi, my name is Dr. Mark Gutekunst and this is my story.

At 12 years of age I would suffer with migraine headaches 6-7 days per week. The headaches were a gradual onset thing. These debilitating headaches were gradually increasing in intensity and frequency as I went through childhood and into adolescence. These headaches prevented me from doing the things that children should be doing at that age. I had difficulty concentrating on my school work, and I was a good student. I couldn't play with my friends nor do the activities that I wanted to do. Needless to say, I wasn't having any childhood fun at that time in my life.

My mother, an 'old school' registered nurse, took me to the pediatrician, the neurologist, the pain specialist and the headache specialist. Exams were given, x-rays were taken, and prescriptions were written. Nothing seemed to help and nobody had the answers. The doctors basically said that 'it was on of those unexplained conditions.' They wanted my mother to start giving her 12 year old son heave narcotic pain killers to help with the pain. Well, my mother, THANKFULLY, would not accept the recommendation of a 12 y/o body taking addictive narcotics.

Towards the tail end of the medical route, my mother's girlfriend recommended she take me to see her chiropractor, Dr. Ratner, in Huntington, New York. She finally set an appointment with the chiropractor after the recommendation of drugs and was hoping he may have the answer. After a lengthy consult, examination and special x-rays of my cervical spine (neck region), he came to the conclusion that my headaches were as a result of a long standing injury to my neck that caused a subluxation and resultant 'undetected nerve compression' at the base of my skull as well as in my mid neck area. The injury had led to a complete reversal of the normal curve of my neck, called a lordosis. The question may then be; how did all the other medical doctors miss these problems? It's not that they missed them, they ignored them. They did not think that they were relevant and important. Go figure….

Once the chiropractor determined the cause of the symptoms, he set on a course of treatment to correct the cause. He explained treating the cause and not masking the symptoms with medication is the proper direction. He was right. After the first week of adjustments, my headaches were cut in half in frequency and the intensity of the few that I had had diminished tremendously. Dr. Ratner corrected the cause of the neurologic impairment, the subluxation, as well as the reversed curve in my neck. Throughout my teens I continued to see him for wellness care as well as additional injuries to my back from football, my right knee from crashing on my snow skis, my right shoulder from racquetball. Also, I never missed school from an illness ever again. That was the first time someone explained how the Immune System is controlled by the Central Nervous System and that being sure there were no subluxations causing neurologic interference was allowing my immune system to function properly to protect my body from allowing bacteria and viruses from getting out of hand and making me sick. And my family was not germophobes at all.

My transition into chiropractic became a natural one since it made such an impression on my life and that of my family. You see, shortly after I started to see results with care, my entire family became patients and were able to experience the miracles of chiropractic.

Dr. Ratner was my mentor during my college years and graduate years while I acquired my Doctorate of Chiropractic degree. I firmly believe, without his treatment, inspiration and guidance, I would not be a chiropractor today helping people live happier healthier drug free lives.

Currently, I have 3 beautiful children. I enjoy traveling in the United States, scuba diving, bodybuilding and enjoying time with my kids. I am also a licensed private pilot with both a power and glider rating. 

I am passionate about proper health care, sometimes to a fault. I speak my mind about it and do not beat-around-the-bush about what's right and wrong with healthcare or what needs to be done. I believe it takes all fields of healthcare working together to take care of the whole person. I also believe that drugs/medications are not the answer to a problem, only a mask of the symptoms manifested by an underlying problem. Does that mean I do not believe in medication? No, it does not. It has it's place but to say 'yeah, my doctor gave me these pills and it will fix xyz is not healthcare but sick care and a dis-service. I tell people all the time that being a doctor is like being a detective. We need to use the symptoms(complaints) as clues in conjunction with exam findings to determine the underlying cause of the problem. Then, we doctors can determine a plan ti fix the problem. If the problem is treated and corrected then the symptoms will subside on their own in most cases. Are there exceptions? Of course. How long has the problem been there? How long did we ignore the warning symptoms? How much damage was caused by the fact that we were ignoring the symptoms? Is the damage permanent? These, and more, are all factors in determining success.

Ultimately, the road to great health and a great life starts with you, the patient. The first decision you need to make is to pick up that phone and call this office.